Breakdown of Jos presidentti olisi vastannut, me olisimme estäneet sodan.
olla
to be
me
we
sota
war
jos
if
vastata
to answer
presidentti
president
estää
to prevent
Questions & Answers about Jos presidentti olisi vastannut, me olisimme estäneet sodan.
Why does Finnish use olisi vastannut (would have answered) in the 'if' clause, instead of a past perfect tense like in English?
In English, we say 'If the president had answered', but Finnish is more strictly logical about hypothetical situations. Because the 'if' clause is a hypothetical condition about the past, it uses the conditional perfect. Finnish uses the conditional mood in both halves of the sentence: Jos... olisi vastannut (If... would have answered) and ...olisimme estäneet (...we would have prevented).
Why does the main verb in the first part end in -nut (vastannut) but the second part ends in -neet (estäneet)?
The past participle (the main action verb used in perfect tenses) always has to match the subject in number. Presidentti is singular, so it takes the singular ending -nut (vastannut). Me (we) is plural, so it takes the plural ending -neet (estäneet).
How is the form vastannut made from the dictionary verb vastata (to answer)?
Vastata is a Type 4 verb. To form the past participle for this specific verb group, you drop the final -a or -ä from the infinitive and add -nnut or -nnyt. This gives us vastannut.
Why is 'the war' translated as sodan instead of the basic form sota or the partitive sotaa?
Sodan is the total object of the sentence. Because preventing the war is viewed here as a complete, successful action rather than an ongoing or incomplete process, the object takes the accusative case, which looks exactly like the genitive with its -n ending.
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